County pares staff by 19 jobs

Thin budget, hard decisions behind housekeeper layoffs.

Thin budget, hard decisions behind housekeeper layoffs.

December 30, 2006|JOSEPH DITS Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- On the Thursday before Christmas, 19 workers who clean offices for the county learned they're losing their part-time jobs as of Jan. 1. It will leave the county with 11 people to do housekeeping. Wilma Mathes is among those who've lost their jobs. "Everyone is bothered by it," she says of her co-workers. "This is the only job for some of them." She says she's found another job. But it pays $1 less than her $7.07 hourly wage with the county, and it doesn't offer the health insurance she had through the county, Mathes says. This, county officials say, is one of the prices of a budget that needed to be balanced. So, too, is the fact that some office workers will have to sweep up after themselves. "We cannot sustain our spending level anymore," says county Auditor Michael Eby. "We're being asked to do more and more with less and less." He says the St. Joseph County Council adopted the 2007 budget -- and a reduced housekeeping budget -- in September. Among the many reasons for the thin budget, officials have cited the rising costs of fuel, utilities and housing juveniles in state correctional facilities. The county focused on eliminating part-time rather than full-time positions, says council President Rafael Morton. Eby says the county didn't want to cut more vital jobs such as public safety officers. The county originally considered cutting 40 jobs but was able to cut fewer because the engineer's and surveyor's offices merged, says county Commissioner Cindy Bodle. Earlier in the year, the county asked all departments to cut their budgets by 2 percent. Many didn't, Bodle says. The housekeepers' boss, Building Engineer John Embrickson, says he made that cut by not replacing two full-timers who were retiring. The county also has restricted pay raises and new hires and cut travel requests. Bodle says the county is looking at the take-home car policies and the fees charged to the public for such things as archives, copying and false alarms that draw the police. Mathes, who liked her job, says it's particularly hard because the workers learned of the job losses so abruptly. Embrickson says he didn't know his staff would have to be cut until early in December, but Eby says all department heads should have received word earlier in the fall. Embrickson didn't like having to pick who'd lose their jobs. He was told he had to chop his budgets for the housekeepers and two part-time security workers to $161,000 -- down from almost $295,000. What won't be cleaned? The offices of county clerks, judges and administrators in the County-City Building, courthouses and the jail, who also will have to collect and set out their own trash, Embrickson says. He says the housekeepers will clean all of the public areas and restrooms in the county buildings, the courtrooms and the county health department clinics. They'll also clean all of the city offices since the city pays rent to the county. Staff writer Joseph Dits: jdits@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6158